The present invention relates to a connector device, and more particularly to a locking joint assembly for retaining a pair of pivotally connected poles of a foldable tent.
Camping is a popular recreational activity often employing the use of tents or tent like structures. Owing to the economical and practical set-up aspects, as well as portability, tents are frequently utilized by nature enthusiasts and amateur campers alike. Generally, tents are constructed of a sheet of fabric or material draped over or attached to a frame consisting of poles and supporting rope. Smaller tents are generally free-standing or secured to the ground, while large tents are generally anchored using guy ropes tied to tent pegs or stakes.
Conventional tent set-up, for both small and large tents, often require time consuming assembly for use, especially when taking into account the number of poles involved and the anchoring requirements, and fabric placement in securing the tent structure. Assembly efforts can become even more difficult during twilight or night hours when lighting is poor, or during inclement weather. Disassembly of the convention tent structure yields the same problems, as well as the need to orderly dismantle the tent pieces.
A popular alternative to conventional tents include foldable or pop-up tents. These tents are commonly referred to as “instant tents,” “one-touch tents” or “pop-up tents,” and erecting and collapsing the tent is easy and less time consuming than conventional assemble-to-use tents. Generally the cover and frame assembly of foldable tents are permanently attached to each other, i.e., preassembled. Instant tents are particularly advantageous for smaller tents because a minimal number of poles, typically four, are required and thus erecting and collapsing the instant tent is quite simple. Each pole is collapsible retractably and/or foldably. The foldably collapsible portions of the pole include a joint for pivoting adjacent pole sections.
In the prior art, pivoting joints are difficult to lock into place, and consequently, users often become frustrated when trying to erect or set-up the tent. In turn, when collapsing of the tent structure, this frustration is revisited owing to the difficulty in unlocking the joints and pivoting the poles into a collapsed position. Typically the joints must be manually snapped and locked into place, making it cumbersome for the user as he/she must stretch to reach the joint. Even still, many of the joints require numerous internal moving parts, making the joints vulnerable to mechanical damage over time. Costs in manufacturing are also increased owing to the several moving parts, increasing material costs and manpower necessary to assemble the variety of mechanical intricacies.
Pivoting joints in the prior art are also unreliable for having a continuously secure connection when the tent is in an open configuration. This is especially evident in pivoting joints used to connect adjacent sections of flexible fiberglass poles, which, because of the elastic nature of the pole sections, make it more difficult to maintain the pole sections in alignment.
Other problems associated with current connectors or locking pivot joints concern overall alignment of the connecting joints and the respective tent poles. In the event that a portion of the pole is rotatably displaced even slightly along a longitudinal axis of the pole, that displacement is transferred throughout the pole and overall alignment is affected, causing the joints to falter. For example, even with a small rotatable displacement at the upper portion of the pole, the displacement at the lower portion of the pole is magnified because of the length of the pole. This effect is particularly critical for the pole joint or connector device which couples the pole sections as the connector device connecting pole sections at a mid or lower portion of the pole are susceptible to misalignment. With the overall mechanical weaknesses of the mechanical joints, owing to the several moving parts and manual locking and aligning characteristics, shift of the connector device or joint misalignment causes jamming or damage to the connection joint. Once the connection joint or pivot joint is damaged, the foldable tent is virtually unusable.